Blog Post #6 :: Food For Thought (Part 2)

Green things CAN taste yummy!

It has been brought to my attention, after traveling through Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, that although many people have the intention to be healthier and eat more fruits and vegetables, they just don’t know what to do with them!

“I would eat more vegetables if they actually tasted good,” has become a commonly heard phrase.


It seems we were all taught to cook macaroni, spaghetti, and other noodles, a rite of passage in independent eating (whether you’re 8 or newly in college). Also, most humans over the age of 6 can quite adequately create a sandwich of sorts, whether by stacking on cheese slices or smearing the bread with PB&J. And perhaps I’m lending out more credit than is due, but I postulate that the greater majority of humans can cook an egg in a pan or microwave a potato.

But when and where do we learn to cook vegetables, pick a salad from the garden, or create a new meal full of healthy ingredients? Perhaps many of you learned to cook from your parents, an old roomie, or the famous jailchef Martha Stewart. But unless your experience with recipes and chef mentors are dramatically different from those that I have met recently, you learned to cook starches and meats with butter and cheese and the occasional overcooked side of asparagus.

So, in lieu of that innate sense of vegetable cheffery that few of us inherited, the purpose of this blog is to provide you with a few easy pointers on how to increase your vegetable intake WITH FLAVOR!

All vegetables are not created equal. You will, no doubt, have some you like more than others. But that’s ok, these aren’t you’re children and showing preferential treatment towards certain colorful foods won’t hurt anybody’s feeling, promise! It’s okay to eat more broccoli than cabbage, more sweet potatoes than mushrooms, yet there is a unique and fantastic flavor to each vegetable and eating varying types of yummy things from the earth is a healthy approach. Variety IS the spice of life, as you may recall, and it counts towards eating habits too!

Any dish that calls for one vegetable can easily be improved by adding 2…or 3 or 4 or 5 instead! It’s not that you need to start cooking completely different meals in order to get more green goodies, most meals can simply be augmented with these tasty morsels. Try adding broccoli and carrots to your can of soup, red cabbage and green peppers to your premade salad with its wee baggy of croutons and almond slices, cabbage and kale to your casserole (or anything else you bake in the oven…even pizza!). Even if you’re making a potroast or baking chicken a la Papa Smurf, simply throw in some sliced sweet potatoes and you’re good to go! More vegetables mean more vitamins, minerals, health, and flavor! Plus, dishes always look prettier with colorful veggies adorning them… lining them with those little pop up fancy drink umbrellas wouldn’t hurt either

Vegetables can be cooked alone, steamed, sautéed, grilled, whatever! And they can easily be spiced up without adding any calories or harmful ingredients. The top 5 spices I keep on hand at all times include (but are certainly not limited to): salt, pepper/cayenne, cumin, garlic, and basil. With these spices, no dish will proceed blandly to the table! Try sprinkling these atop steamed veggies or mixing them right into the pan while stir-frying. Iron chef, here you come!

I think that many people believe vegetables taste bad because they cook them till they are limp and the color of death. Death has no flavor… hell might, but not death. The secret to steaming or any other type of cooking involving veggies is to throw them into the pan/pot in their own due time. For example, carrots cook more slowly than kale, so toss them in early and wait till later with the kale so it still has its fresh flavor and has not wilted beyond complete recognition. Below is a list of common veggies, they are in descending order for cooking times (approximately), that is the ones at the top of the list need to go in first.

Sweet potatoes/potatoes
Beets
Carrots
Onions
Broccoli
Green beans
Asparagus
Bell peppers (cook the red ones longer…no, not really
Zucchini and other squash
Peas
Corn
Mushrooms
Cabbage
Spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens
*Tomatoes – tricky tricky, it depends whether you’re cooking them down to make a sauce, like them more squishy and stewed-like, or want them all fresh and juicy.
One fantastically amazing tasty healthy snack that I have recently run into is kale chips! So easy, so fast, so delicious! Check out EcoJaunt’s video Kale Krunch for the step by step recipe from Laura in Hamilton, MT and prepare to by yummified.

Also, grocery stores and ethnic specialty shops are making it easy to add a little flavor to the pan. Sauces and marinades can easily be added to veggie sautés to give it some kick and pizzazz! For example, try a curry sauce or teriyaki atop your onion, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms, oh delicious! Or even drizzle a touch of BBQ sauce (yeah, I know, full of high fructose corn syrup and sugar, yet tasty) over your skewers of veggies for the grill. Hot diggety, I’m getting hungry!

And when there’s just no room on the proverbial supper table for another dish, have fresh raw veggies as an appetizer. This way, no one’s just too stuffed to eat his or her vegetables. And, you can serve them up with hummus (a great dip made from garbanzo beans with good vitamins and protein), a salad dressing of sorts, or a chutney of choice!

Another way to add more vegetables to your diet is to invoke the old dinner salad rule. That is to say, dinner always FOLLOWS salad. And we’re not talking iceberg lettuce with a few lonely carrot circles (you know with the jaggedy edges all cute and stuff). We’re talking red lettuce and romaine (small amounts) mixed with cucumber and red bell pepper and celery and carrots and beets and snap peas and…. you get the point. When it comes down to it, just lettuce (especially iceberg) doesn’t do a lot for you in the category of nutrition, so fill your salad with other goodies that do.

My particular eating pattern includes a salad for lunch, filled with whatever scrumptious veggies I could scrounge from my fridge (ahem, currently a small cooler). This way I know that come dinner time I’ve already had at least SOME green goodies and if my evening sustenance turns out to be mac and cheese or bread and balsamic vinegar with a glass of red wine and a side of giggling girlfriends…well, then at least I’ve dosed my body with vitamins and minerals once or twice that day and there will be no nutrient melt down to be wary of.

Instead of super sizing your less than happy meal, SUPER SALAD it for dinner! This is a great easy way to feed yourself or a hungry hoard that takes little time and is tasty as all get out. Simply chop up heaps of different veggies, open cans of black, kidney, or garbanzo beans and canned corn (real stuff is extra credit) and mix and match as you please. You can also cook up a touch of tofu or meat as a topping. And I’ve forgotten cheese! Don’t forget the cheese (even if it’s the shitty parmesan cheese in the green can that one would have difficulty differentiating from Comet cleaner).

And once you’re sick of all these ideas, experiment! Buy new and different veggies, ask the vendors at farmers’ markets what they do with foods you’ve never used or even knew existed. This is how I learned what to do with kohlrabi (which it turns out is kinda like broccoli stalks in my opinion) and is a great way to learn about new and LOCAL foods (this is yet another blog that I will jump to soon enough).

So get to cheffing and healthifying all those things that go into your body! Remember, just because it comes from the dirt, doesn’t mean it has to taste like dirt.

If you’re having problems coming up with a recipe for certain vegetables or need help strategizing a way to sneak veggies into your life, email me and we’ll spice it up right!

ContactUs@EcoJaunt.org

Week 5 :: Food For Thought (Part 1)

From: Salt Lake City, UT

There had to come a day when I would begin to address the concept of food. Begin, I say, because bookshelves have been published on this topic…and there’s no way TAI will lend me THAT much website space! So this rant will only be the beginning.

Gosh golly, where does a gal start? Eureka, I’ve got it!

“You are what you eat.” It’s an age old saying that originated in 1826 when Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, jet e dirai ce que tu es.” (Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are). Later, this became (auf Deutsch) “Der mensch ist, was er ißt,” which translates to our current understanding of the phrase (only he said, the man is what he eats…thank you high school German class!). This idiom made it into English not long after and even became a British TV show! Likely, it was on the Queen’s list to TiVo during teatime.

This saying wasn’t meant to be taken so literally, but implies that we become the types of things we consume, be it violent video games, court talk shows, negative surroundings and people, OR a whopper with fries. By the way, has anyone else seen Burger King’s new signs for the ANGRY WHOPPER? Seriously, what kind of sauce is anger and who wants to consume more of it? Why not the Gandhi Whopper? Or at least name the freakin’ sandwich after a positive angry leader. The Cesar Chavez Burger anyone? …This could be the beginning of a whole new healthy fast food chain: Revolutionary Rations…where you can mini-size your order instead of being coerced into buying enough crap calories to sustain a little league team.

Ok, back on topic: You Are What You Eat.

Think about it: what exactly do you eat? And beyond that, this statement assumes that to know what we are, we actually know what it is we’re eating. Now geez Morgan, this seems a little far-fetched (…I can hear it now…), I know that my burger is made out of a cow and that my fries are potatoes and that my salad came from a farm and my chips from the store and my frozen entrée from the magic frozen food fairies. But is it that simple?

Yes and no are both correct answers to the above proposed question.

In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration implemented our current nutrition labeling system. Suddenly, we could see how many calories and grams of fat and oodles of sodium we were consuming. But also, we were given a window into the world of ingredients; we could finally see WHAT our food was made from. Only it seems the FDA forgot to print these long lists in English.

When I was 7 or 8, I wanted to be a master speller. Spelling was like a puzzle, a new language, a mystery with enough clues that if you paid attention, you could solve it. I could hold my own in the school’s spelling bee and I could even define most of the words that the 6th graders couldn’t spell (ok, now I’m just bragging). But among the multitudinus vocalizeable utterantces that I ackwired in my effemeral inkwerie into the Inglesh language, I never once saw words like ‘xanthum gum,’ ‘maltodextrin,’ ‘monosodium glutamate,’ or ‘lactic acid.’ I mean, isn’t lactic acid that shtuff that builds up in your muscles when you work hard and are feelin’ the burn? What is this doing in our food? Perhaps it’s helping the internal digestive smooth muscles of our stomachs and small intestines to feel the burn. Jane Fonda would be so proud.

So what exactly is this stuff with high falutin long confusing chemistry names? Mostly, it’s corn. All of the above listed ingredients are additives derived from corn. And there are many more. These kernel extracted bits and pieces are used as sweeteners, thickeners, preservatives, and binders. They are in your processed foods (aka almost anything you buy in a box, bag, jug, jar, or can), used as a coating on your fresh fruits and veggies for extra bling, in your shampoo and toothpaste for thickness (which hopefully you’re not eating), and even in some over the counter medications as a binding agent.

For a more full list of multisyllabic corn derived food additives, check out the Live Corn Free website, they’ve got a good list rolling. For those with organic chemistry interest, Wikipedia does a decent job breaking down most of these compounds into their cellular structural differences and showing the necessary steps and processes. Don’t worry all you closet chemists out there, nobody’s taking a head count.

For now, I’m not even going to start on high fructose corn syrup. That’s a whole other bookshelf.

Right now, some of you are shocked, some of you are nodding your heads emphatically, and some of you are thinking you may be exempt from this overconsumption of corn because you eat more meat, dairy, and veggies than processed foods. First of all, let me congratulate you. This is a fairly wise choice and generally healthier than eating foods that have gone through more steps in the food chain than there are in the Empire State Building.

But just so you know, the majority of cows and chickens and turkeys and lambs and even our beloved fishes are now being fed Number 2 corn diets. No. 2 corn is the type of corn grown in the majority of fields in this country. It is used for animal feed, ethanol production, and the creation of xanthum gum etc., but certainly not for human consumption. There are heaps of other evils behind CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) that detract from the nutritional value of meat…but again, that’s another bookshelf.

Now the real question of the day: Is all this corn bad for us?

The simple answer is Yes. The longer answer is on yet another bookshelf.

The human body is amazing and can process a lot of crap, but in the end it needs nutritional substance and variety to thrive. Remember the food pyramid from 2nd grade? Well forget about it, it’s been abolished! About 1½ months ago, the Nutritional Plate was instated by the USDA and Michelle Obama, encouraging more fruits and veggies and creating a more evenly balanced plate. Check it out!

But the take home message is the same: variety. If everything you’re eating is derived from corn in one way or another: soda, chips, meat, crackers, breads, chicken nuggets (don’t even get me started on these), cereal, applesauce, candy, etc… then you’ve lost all the variety of substance that you’re body craves!

The best thing that any human, who has the power of literacy and will power, can do is to eat as many fresh fruits and veggies as possible. (The whole organic thing, you guessed it, another bookshelf) Beyond that, pay attention to what those nutrition labels list. If there are more than a handful of ingredients or many that you couldn’t identify with or without the periodic table, than perhaps it belongs on the shelf and not in your tummy!

And remember, small changes will grow bigger over time. Start by adding something green to each plate you serve up or substitute a piece of fruit instead of fruit snacks (corn) next time you need a nibble.

Plato and many other Greek sages have popularized the phrase “Know Thyself.” If you are what you eat, at least know what it is you really are!

Week 4: Sustainable Activities on the Road!

Consistent exercise for EcoJaunters is a must!

Week 3 :: Commute By Bike – Tips To Get You Rollin’

From: Long Beach, WA


Download Cycling Stretches (PDF): Click here

In last week’s episode of Morgan gets on her rant, I talked about alternative forms of transportation (though I did forget to mention teleportation…darn!). And while many of us have terribly good intentions about walking or riding our bikes, it has been brought to my attention that many people just don’t feel safe getting around the city without a huge metal bubble barrier.

So, this post is devoted to safety tips, planning strategies, and awareness elements that will keep you safe and confident while riding your bike or pedestrianizing (it’s totally a word, I double dog dare you to look it up).

The main elements we need to address are: visibility, comfort, and respect for the road and all those who use it.

VISIBILITY!

There is no better way to be safe on the walk or on wheels than by being seen. This doesn’t mean you have to sing opera with wild hand gesticulations or wear only neon colors head to toe, though neither would hurt. ☺ It does mean that you should avoid wearing dark blue or black at night. It also means using appropriate lighting (one white headlight for the front and one or more red flashy lights for the rear on a bike). Additionally, a light on your wheel spokes, so that you are visible from the side, is quite helpful. And while you can also wear reflective vests, a cheaper and more creative thing you can do is to decorate the back of your jacket, pants, or bag with reflective tape. This cannot be underestimated, reflectors are magic in car headlights!

Another aspect of visibility is awareness of whether or not you are seen (this one gloms on a little with the whole respect element). Attempt to always make eye contact with drivers, other cyclists, and pedestrians before proceeding to turn or make your way through 4-way stops. It’s amazing how much difference making eye contact can make. It’s as if once you’ve made eye contact, you’ve been recognized as another human being, and therefore given the respect you oh so clearly deserve!

COMFORT

Many times I have heard people say, I would like to ride my bike, but it’s uncomfortable and the weather isn’t always great. Numero Uno: Welcome to the Pacific Northwest.

But moving beyond the fact that Oregon (and many other states) does not provide windless sunny days with the consistency some might hope for, there are heaps of ways and strategies that will keep you comfy on your bike, no matter what the circumstances!

First of all, if your bike is uncomfortable, you may simply need to have changes made to your bike’s set up. It could be as simple as moving your seat, changing the angle of your handlebars, or learning the correct position on your bike. Luckily, skilled physical therapists (and you might know a few. Ahem, Therapeutic Associates Downtown Portland J) are trained to do cycle fits and can make changes to your bike to appropriately fit your anatomy.

Preparing appropriately for the weather, or the possibility of weather, is another key factor in being comfy cozy on your bike! First and foremost, dress in layers! Nothing beats the elements of hot and cold like variety. It may be 10 degrees cooler in the hills than it is in the valley and you should plan accordingly.

Secondly, purchase, borrow, or find in a free box some good rain gear. It’s truly amazing how impervious to wet Gortex can be; and how much easier it is to get your pedal on in the rain when you know you’ll still be dry once you strip off your waterproof layer upon arrival. Additionally, you can bring extra clothes with you to change into or leave a spare set at your common destinations. For example, I used to leave “a few pairs” of shoes under my desk at work just in case I happened to get wet feet on my commute…never mind that half the time I opted for barefoot status…but that’s another story. ☺

Being comfortable on your bike also includes an amount of confidence in yourself on the road. If you feel hesitant to ride your bike amidst cars, there are simple steps you can take to be sure you have a comfortable and safe route. For one thing, improving your visibility to cars (see above) will give you confidence that everyone knows you’re there. Also, take bike routes or side streets anytime it’s possible. If you live in lovely Ptown, you’ll find no shortage of preferred marked bike routes and bike lanes and most outdoor or bike shops sell maps that specifically detail these. Mapping your routes accordingly will dramatically decrease the number of cars you even get remotely close to while pedaling away.

If you don’t feel confident about your balance on a bike, particularly at intersections when a stop is required, try these tips:

When you stop at an intersection, DO NOT try to continue sitting on your seat with both your feet touching the ground on either side. This is a precarious position full of terrible teeter totter possibilities. INSTEAD, bring your seat off your saddle (giddyup riders) and place one foot (or both) on the ground. Lean your bike slightly down towards the foot you have placed on the ground (the other may be on the pedal still). This will give you a more stable gravitationally affected triangle AND it will have you in the ready position to push down on your pedal and restart when that light turns green!
Practice your starts and stops around your neighborhood (that’s right, where everyone can see you, and then you can educate them on bike safety!). This will help you gain confidence in going at different speeds, stopping appropriately, and restarting…without any other cyclists or cars to worry about.
R. E. S. P. E. C. T.

find out what it means …for you…sing with me now!

No matter where you’re going or what kind of bike you’re riding, you should always always ALWAYS respect the road. Remember that it is very hard and unforgiving to your amazing flesh covered body. I could rant about wearing a helmet, but I figure that if you’re smart enough to be reading this blog, you likely R.E.S.P.E.C.T your brain and the way it currently functions, so I don’t even need to go there. ☺

Respecting the road also means adhering to the rules. Stop at signs and lights that involve the color red, use appropriate signals for turning and indicating a change in direction, and just say no to agro! Some of these tips go back to visibility and communication; just because you’re wearing that superstar helmet with antenna, does not mean that cars or other cyclists can read your mind. Tell us what you’re going to do before you do it! Biking on the street is like having a relationship, the more open and forthright you are, the less likely that anyone will get hurt…you can also catch me on my other blog, Dr. Luv Tells It Like It Is…

Riding a bike is one of the funnest, bestest, most awesomest ways to get around. Making every pedal a comfy cozy happy safe ride can only help! More power to the pedal!

Oh yeah, and also these stretches are handy dandy for anyone who’s putting some miles on the bike ☺

Week 2 :: Get On The Bus Gus

Week 2 :: Get On The Bus Gus

From Roslyn, WA

Let me just begin with one simple and truthful statement to overarch everything you will read in the following lines:

There is no guilt in these words, only information for action.

Alright, now that that’s settled, let the good times roll!

Who gets out of their car and says, “Man, do I feel great now!”

and whose low back and neck feel better after a long road trip? If you are answering those questions in the affirmative, you are either a rarity or you are being driven around in a comfortable R.V.

One of the least healthy positions for your body is sitting; and one of the least healthy things for the planet is humans’ use and overuse of fossil fuels (aka driving cars). Could there be a connection to be noted? Perhaps!

Sitting is the position that creates the greatest amount of stress on your low back and driving is no exception. In fact, most cars employ bucket seats (every physical therapist’s sworn enemy) and low ceilings, basically forcing you to slouch in order to see over the wheel (even before you’re 97 years old). Additionally, driving is one of the most static types of sitting, allowing for little to no fidgeting (since you are a safety superstar and wearing your seatbelt) and therefore does not promote flexibility or good circulation through movement.

Fossil fuels (and the machines powered by them…ahem…automobiles) cause damage to many facets of our society. Some of the more obvious and dramatic include, but are certainly not limited to, our air quality, which affects our health on a daily basis and the ozone, two important parts of our continued life on this planet, both in the immediate present and the future.

So, why don’t we all make choices that are healthier for our bodies and our planet? I believe the answer to this question encompasses many factors, but two of the big ones are our increasing reliance on convenience and our perceived lack of options.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we all quit cars cold turkey or become enforced hermits in order to decrease our reliance on gasoline. But I AM suggesting that we all start taking responsibility for our modes of transit and put some planning and forethought into how we get around. Errands can be completed together taking an efficient route, carpooling can be prioritized, mass transit can be used, and walking or cycling can replace driving whenever possible!

There are two elements that will be instrumental to changing how dependent you are on your car: planning and commitment. If you can commit to changing your transportation habits, you will! But make your goals achievable, here are some ideas to get the mental balls bouncing….boing!

Ride your bike or walk to work 3 times a week. Perhaps this means you only drive half way or split your time half and half with the bus.
Park your car 2 days a week. Commit not to drive on Tuesday and Saturday (for example, nothing real special about Tuesday…) No matter what, on those days you get around another way.
Check out carpools in your area: to work, for your kids to school or daycare, to the gym, for long commutes to different cities, etc. Any activities you do on a regular or semi regular basis can involve carpooling. How often do you see the same people at the gym or your neighbors at the grocery store? How fantastic if we could split gas costs in half, decrease the CO2 in our air, and have a socially enjoyable ride at the same time! This is a great excuse to get to know your ‘hot’ neighbor, co-worker, or fellow rowing machine user.
Pick locations within a few miles of your house that you visit relatively frequently and commit not to drive there. Ever. Create an understanding with yourself that every time you go to that nearby pub, video arcade, Quiki Mart (never!), park, friend’s house, or favorite eatery, you will walk, bike, skip, bus, crawl, or levitate…just not drive.
Create a locational boundary for car usage. Declare that anything within a mile of your home will never justify using your car, no matter what the weather. Buy mittens and a raincoat, the good kind. These items will cost you less than petrol and are better for making you feel warm and snuggly.
These ideas are but a small drop in the proverbial oil bucket and are by no means impossible! If you can only commit to one day a week without wheels, that’s a great start! Every small step you take will build over time and you may be surprised to find how easy it is to stay free from your small prison on wheels.

Just remember, every choice you make will affect both your body and your environment. So get out into the world and stay committed to your sustainable plan!

Morgan Denny PT, DPT
Orthopedic Physical Therapist
Sustainable Practices Advocate

Week 1 :: Sustain Your Garden AND Your Body

From: Chico, CA

The sun is on its way (wait for it, WAIT FOR IT) and it’s time to be in the garden planting some yummy veggies! If you’re like most people, you’ve had one or two injuries from time spent weeding, mowing, pruning, or gardening. The most common sites are your lower back, neck, shoulders, and knees. Not fun!!!

Instead of suffering and feeling punished for your work with your hands in the dirt, think about some of these tips and stretches to decrease your post gardening predicament!

If you’re an intense gardener, getting into zen mode while plucking those water sucking weeds, you may not switch positions until some little voice comes from your knees or your back that says, “Move!” But changing positions is key to keeping joints happy while gardening. Aim to change how you’re sitting, standing, or bending at least once every 5 minutes. If you’ve been sitting on the ground, switch to a half kneeling position; if you’ve been bent over pruning, change you position to sitting on a stool. For extra credit points, do some light stretching every time you change how you’re working. This will prevent your body’s joints from becoming overtaxed. Instead of moving when you have pain, preemptively move to prevent pain.

One of the worst things about gardening is that the ground is so much darn lower than we are! Drat. But wait, there’s hope! Try using appropriate tools and stools to help decrease the strain on your spine. Be sure these tools are the correct size and length for you; too short and you’ll be hunched over, too big and you’ll feel like you’re wielding a sword from medieval times….and then you’ll need matching chain mail (as in the armor).

As you’re gardening, it’s also important to maintain as much of a neutral spine position as possible. This means no hunched shoulders or overly bent low back. Instead of hunching over, bend those knees! Instead of reaching too far, move your whole body! Awareness of these simple mechanical ideas can save you a lot of grief in the gardening aftermath.

Additionally, going through some light stretches and warm up activities before you start gardening and throughout your time with the plants will help to decrease your level of soreness. Just think, you could even garden two days in a row…which could be necessary once the sunshine decides it lives in Ptown.

So just remember: move, stretch, neutral spine. Simple, effective; simply effective

Now go play in the dirt and give those wonderful green beings some life!


Morgan Denny PT, DPT
Orthopedic Physical Therapist
Sustainable Practices Advocate

I think I will post my Health Blogs Here

Since my partner and I have been working on our project ECOJAUNT, I have been writing a health blog for the physical therapy clinic I used to work at, the topics ranging from absolutely PT related to sustainability meets health to sustainable education. They are currently posted on Downtown Ptown's Therapeutic Associates website, but i figure they might benefit from another hiding place ;) So here we go! Copy and paste y'all!

All my best from Asheville, NC ;)